MILFORD – Just in time for the first day of school, Milford Town Council and Town Marshal Rich Miotto put a pilot program in place for a resource officer for Milford School. Miotto received a contract during the council meeting Monday to schedule officers for the program, and council members voted to commit their half of $14,000 to fund it. The Wawasee Community School Corp. has committed the other half, and the program will be re-evaluated during Christmas break. Under the agreement, officers will spend a total of 20 hours a week in the school. Miotto said he has the first month scheduled and will use Milford officers whenever available, but that Syracuse and county officers also have expressed interest. Milford reserve officers may be used, though they can’t be paid out of the town’s portion of funding unless the town is prepared to send them to academy, Miotto noted. Town attorney Jay Rigdon also noted that the contract uses the term “school resource officer” but that under state statute officers don’t officially qualify for the designation without special training. Also during the meeting, the council tabled a request from Miotto to retain a 2007 cruiser for about two years now that the department is about to get a 2014 Ford Explorer. Miotto said he would like to keep the old cruiser, which has 118,000 miles on it, primarily for reserve and SRO use. Council approved bids to outfit the new vehicle with striping, lights and other equipment for about $5,300. The vehicle itself, which is a year newer than what the town originally expected, cost about $27,000 from Kerlin Motors. And Miotto reminded residents to be cautious with school buses returning to the streets, as well as to beware of scams promising prizes in exchange for a processing or shipping fee. He noted two residents recently encountered such scams, one of whom “got stung.” Council also approved $47,000 for Phend and Brown to patch and pave a total of 41,996 square feet of alleys and parking lots in town, including the westbound lane of CR 1300N at the intersection with Old 15; and tabled a request from Utilities Supervisor Randy Veach to purchase new pumps for the Brock and Barth lift stations for about $58,000. Council will look again at the pumps after hearing whether the Milford Redevelopment Commission can help fund the Brock lift station, which covers Milford’s first tax increment finance district northwest of town. Council later signed a letter supporting the renewal of that TIF for another 10 years, at the request of commission chairman Dan Brown. Brown said renewal up to the maximum length of the TIF, which was first established in 1995 and includes major industry such as CTB Inc. and PigTek, will allow for needed infrastructure maintenance. Also during the meeting, council approved monthly utilities billing to begin in September, and heard that fall cleanup will be Sept. 26 and 27 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sept. 28 from 8 to 11 a.m.
